The cultural trajectories of Aurignacian osseous projectile points in Southern Europe: Insights from geometric morphometrics

Studies on European population dynamics during the Early Upper Palaeolithic heavily rely on evidence gathered from the analysis of material culture. Spatial occurrence of an artefact type allows to delimit the territories occupied by their bearers, and, when a chronological perspective is added to the study, to follow shifts in land occupation through time. In this paper, we review first-hand data gathered from 129 Aurignacian osseous projectile points yielded by 11 sites that are distributed along the southern dispersal route assumed to have facilitated the initial dispersal of Homo sapiens into Western Europe, i.e., the Mediterranean coastline. In this region, clear differences are observed with regard to the relative distribution of split- and massive-based points. The Adriatic Sea is identified as the geographical limit dividing the western and eastern regions of the Mediterranean coastline. In both regions, massive-based points occur contemporaneously with split-based points at some sites. In the western region, split-based points appear at the end of the Proto-Aurignacian, and overall outnumber massive-based points. In the eastern region, split-based points are associated with the end of Early Aurignacian occupations, and it is massive-based points that are found in greater number. The geographic distribution of the data obtained from a landmark-based geometric morphometrics analysis of the forms for both projectile point types suggests the high mobility of Aurignacian populations. However, the rules of production seem more flexible for the manufacture of massive-based points compared to those reproduced during the manufacture of split-based points. A parallel is drawn between this pattern and the complexity of the reduction sequence of both types. These results cast doubts on the hypothesis according to which Aurignacian osseous projectile points, and more specifically split-based points, would represent a proxy for the initial dispersal of Homo sapiens into Europe. On the contrary, the present review indicates the adoption of osseous projectile technologies at a continental scale signals the development of novel socio-economic strategies by groups already present on the continent and linked to one another.